Living Next Door to the Magic
by Kinola
Summary: People go to WDW for a vacation, right? Well, six orphaned kids decide to live at Disney World permanently! Was this a good idea, or should they've just taken a mere vacation there like everyone else?
1. Welcome to Our New Home

**Hey guys! I am doing a Disney-related story after reading one recently done by Bovine Beauty ;)  
Now, before going on, know this: I have not been to Disney World since '03 or '04, and I usually stayed at the following resorts:**

**-Contemporary (called it the "Toaster Hotel" when I was little for some reason; maybe I thought it looked like a toaster? :/)**

**-Boardwalk**

**-Yacht and Beach, respectively**

**I never went to the Fort Wilderness or the Wilderness Lodge while at WDW; I did some research to hopefully get everything right. If I messed up a little, please point it out to me and I'll fix it in the future. DO NOT FLAME; it's an immature thing to do. **

**All things mentioned in this chapter (WDW, Tigger, Chip and Dale) are owned by Disney. I own the orphaned kids Faith, Latham, Isabelle/"Mysterious Isa," Cooper, Ty, and Josiah/"Little Jo."

* * *

**

The white bus that had "Disney" in red words on its side hummed as it rolled closer to its destination. The passengers, mostly tourists from out of state, slumped in their chairs, either chatting on their cell phones or asleep, as the last rays of sunlight shone down upon the Floridian landscape.

At the back of the bus, a group of six children sat huddled together, quietly conversing with one another. Of the six, only two were girls, one having dark blond hair and hazel eyes and the other being a redhead with teal eyes.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Latham?" the blond girl, Faith, buzzed as quietly as she could.

Latham, a boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes, nodded. "Sure I'm sure," he answered her. "Lots of people go to Disney World for a vacation, but none have ever _lived_ at the park." The redheaded girl gave Faith an assuring smile. Her name was Isabelle, but since no one knew about her past, she was christened "Mysterious Isa."

"This is gonna be so great!" a little boy sitting next to the redheaded girl squealed. "We're going to be the first people to live at Disney World, where magic comes to life!" His hair was red like Isa's, but while her eyes were teal, his were brown. His real name was Josiah, but since he was the youngest of the six, everyone called him "Little Jo." He was Mysterious Isa's younger brother.

"Shh, not so loud, Little Jo," Latham hissed to him. "Nobody must know, or we'll get in trouble."

"Yes, Little Jo," said an Asian descended boy. "Keep it secret, or bad things will happen." His name was Tyler, but he was called Ty for short. The last boy, an African-descended adolescent named Cooper, nodded his head in agreement with him.

Faith glanced down at the stuff they'd brought with them. Apart from their clothes, the kids brought with them three tents, four blankets (three big ones), two water canteens, a month's supply of matches, a bag of marshmallows to roast (this was bought _after_ leaving the Orlando International Airport), several candy bars, three magazines to read, and swimsuits. She looked up at Latham and asked, "Where're we going to camp out?"

"Probably at the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground," Latham clarified. "We'll just blend in with the people there and no one will be suspicious of our actions."

"And then we ride the rides," Little Jo added, smiling. "What rides do you guys think you'll like? I hope to enjoy the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It sounds like a lotta fun. Oh! And then there's Splash Mountain and Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain…" Little Jo prattled on about the Disney rides, mostly ones at the Magic Kingdom, which would be the first place they'd visit in the morning.

* * *

The bus hissed to a stop right at the entrance of the Disney's Fort Wilderness campgrounds. It swung its doors open and the tourists who planned on staying here emerged. Latham, Faith, Mysterious Isa, Little Jo, Cooper, and Ty were close behind, each clutching a suitcase. But when they were just exiting the bus, Cooper and Ty bumped into each other.

"Hey, watch it, Ty!" Cooper snapped.

"You watch it, Coop!" Ty warned, glaring at him.

"No, _you_!"

"No, _you_!"

"Come along, you two," Mysterious Isa called to them. "We'd better get going. Don't make a scene."

"We weren't making a scene!" Cooper and Ty protested simultaneously. Some of the people that were on the bus glanced over at them. The two boys joined the rest of the group, blushing slightly.

Latham led the group down the road, where they saw families relaxing by their cabins on the left. Mysterious Isa pulled out a map of the campgrounds from her pocket. "Okay, now," she stated. "The map says that we should keep going up this road before going right, and the place where people put their tents and motor homes are just around a corner."

"_Or_ we could take a short cut through those trees!" Ty said, pointing to the trees. He'd looked over Mysterious Isa's shoulder at the map. Latham shook his head in disagreement and told the Asian-descended boy about the fact that poison ivy lined the edge of every forest.

"Oh, don't be such a chicken," he snorted. "Short cuts make things easier. Watch." He marched proudly towards the trees and took a big step right on top of the ivy leaves. He looked over his shoulder to grin at the group before taking another step. But just as he was doing that, Ty slipped and landed on his back just a few inches from the poison ivy, but his arms were in the leaves. Little Jo and Faith gasped simultaneously.

After a moment, the poison ivy victim broke the silence. "…Did we bring any ointment?"

Latham urged Cooper, Faith, Mysterious Isa, and Little Jo to go on ahead while he went to get Ty help for his poison ivy. When the four children reached the campsite, they found a vacant space of grass at the edge. It looked perfect enough to make as their own.

"Okay, remember the sleeping arrangements, you three," Cooper said as he opened one of the suitcases carrying a tent. "Ty and Latham get one tent, the girls get the second, and Josiah, you and I get the third tent." With Faith and Mysterious Isa's help, he began to set up the first tent. Little Jo was allowed to wander around the campsite, just as long as he did not go with anyone else.

By the time Cooper, Mysterious Isa, and Faith were about ready to put up the third tent, Latham returned, with an ashamed Ty close behind. A family that was in the same campsite as the kids was able to help the Asian boy with his poison ivy problem. Unfortunately for him, he would not be able to go to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow, so he would have to wait.

"This stinks," Ty grumbled as he folded his arms. The family offered to wash his Polo shirt, just in case if he got anything on it. They let him borrow a shirt with Tigger on it. "We've barely been in Walt Disney World for five minutes, and _I_ end up getting poison ivy."

"Serves you right," Cooper snickered. Ty glared at him and growled, "I wish it'd been _you_."

"No fighting, boys," said Mysterious Isa to them as she gazed up at the now dark sky. "We've gotta get ready to go to sleep. Faith, help me look for Little Jo. He hasn't come back for almost ten minutes."

Together, with only a walkie-talkie on them so they could communicate with the other boys left behind, the two girls went around the campsite, looking for the little brother of Mysterious Isa. They asked a few families if they'd seen him, but they said they never saw him pass them by. Then, just as they were about to go get help from an adult, a woman said that her two children took Little Jo with them to the Chip n' Dale Campfire Sing-a-Long. The people would go and sing songs as well as watch a classical Disney movie.

"I told him not to go with anyone else!" she exclaimed. "I thought he'd been kidnapped!"

"Ma'am, where do they have the Campfire Sing-a-Long?" Faith questioned the woman. She was able to give them directions, and the girls ran as fast as they could. Along the way, the walkie-talkie buzzed inside Faith's pockets. Then, as they saw the burning flame of the campfire, it spoke.

"Faith and Isa, Faith and Isa, come in! Over." It was Cooper speaking through the other walkie-talkie. "Is there anyone there?"

"Cooper, it's me, Faith. Mysterious Isa's busy. She's going to get her brother," Faith responded.

"Where are you two? Where's Little Jo?"

"A couple o' kids took him with them to the Chip n' Dale Campfire thing, according to some lady. Did you boys finish up with the camp?"

"Yeah, me and Ty and Latham just put out the blankets. We tossed your stuff into the green tent, along with Isa's junk. You want us to come over?"

"Mmm…I don't know." Faith heard Ty yell something and Cooper telling him to shut up. "What'd Ty say?"

"He wants to go over there, but I said he couldn't," Cooper explained. He chuckled. "Poor kid's still needs to recover from the ivy accident. Anyway, I'll come over, but Latham's gotta stay with Tyler. Is that okay?" Before Faith could respond, Cooper said, "Good! See ya soon. Cooper out." He clicked off the walkie-talkie. Faith rolled her eyes and thought to herself, _"Crazy Coop." _

By the time the girls made it to the Campfire Sing-a-Long, the movie was already playing. Tonight's feature was "Dumbo," which Faith knew was one of Little Jo's favorite Disney movies, next to "The Sword in the Stone."

"Hello there, ladies," a young woman greeted them. She was wearing green khaki shorts and a cowboy hat. A counselor, no doubt. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes, you can," Mysterious Isa rejoined. "I'm looking for a little boy about nine-years-old, red-haired, brown-eyed, wearing jeans and a yellow Polo T-shirt. Have you seen him?"

"I think I saw him sitting at the back," the woman said, her index finger on her chin. "You can check, if you'd like." Mysterious Isa nodded her head and dragged Faith with her.

Little Jo was sitting in the last row in between two brown-haired children, snacking on a s'more when his older sister and Faith found him.

"Josiah, I thought I told you _not_ to go far from our tents!" Mysterious Isa hissed at him when he turned around. "What if you were kidnapped? Next time, think about the only family you have left when you try to venture off! Our goal is to live at Walt Disney World permanently, not get lost here!"

"It wasn't my fault, Isabelle," Little Jo explained to her as best as he could. "These two kids, Tommy and Erica, they asked if I wanted to come with them, and they pulled me with them before I could say anything." Up on the screen, the pyramid of elephants scene was playing, and Dumbo was about to be placed at the very top. Faith watched as Dumbo messed the pyramid up big time before returning her gaze to Mysterious Isa. "Hey, why don't we just watch the rest of the movie while we are still here?" she inquired. "The boys already got camp set up, and Cooper told me he was on his way. Just unwind after a busy day."

Mysterious Isa regarded the hazel-eyed girl for a moment before sighing heavily. "Fine. But from now on, you're going to be sticking close to Little Jo when he wants to wander off. You'll be his…uhm...moving buddy."

"Moving buddy?" Faith asked, skeptical. Mysterious Isa ignored her to watch the movie. One of the brown-haired children scooted over to give Faith and Mysterious Isa some room to sit.

"So, your name's Faith?" the brown-haired boy whispered to the blond girl as she sat next to him. "I'm Tommy Winslow from Jonesboro, Arkansas. Erica's my twin sister."

"Nice to meet you," whispered Faith. "I'm Faith from Silver Point, in French Guinea."

Tommy looked at her with mystification. "_Silver_ Point? Never heard of it. Where's it at?"

"It's near Cayenne, the capital."

"Shh!" Erica shushed them, her brown orbs narrowed. "Keep quiet! I wanna watch this."

Tommy and Faith spoke no more after that. They continued to watch Dumbo with the rest of the people. During the "Pink Elephants on Parade" scene, Faith felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to find Cooper behind her. To her surprise, Latham and Ty were there as well (she later found out Ty would not stay at the campsite just because his arms had blisters from the poison ivy).

Finally, the movie ended and everyone got up to return to their cabin, RV, or tent. Mysterious Isa, Faith, and Little Jo joined Latham, Cooper, and Ty and walked back to the campsite together. Not far behind them were Tommy and Erica Winslow.

"So, what'll you be doing tomorrow?" Faith asked the twins.

"We're heading to Epcot," Erica replied. "Yourselves?"

"Magic Kingdom," Little Jo answered for them. "But Tyler can't come. His arms have stuff from the poison ivy."

"Don't say another word about that, Josiah!" Ty commanded. "Or do you want to go into the ivy yourself?" Little Jo giggled at the outburst of the Asian boy.

"Why'd you drag my little brother to the Chip n' Dale Campfire?" Mysterious Isa demanded. "You should've let him come back to me and let me know what he was doing."

"Boy, you sound like our mom," Tommy laughed.

"We took him with us because we were in a rush to get there," Erica elucidated, blushing a little. "Us Winslows _always_ go to the Campfire every time we come to Disney World. It's like a tradition to us. We have been doing it ever since the campground opened in the seventies. And we hoped that your little brother would enjoy it as much as we did."

"And they were right!" Little Jo beamed.

The eight children made their way back to the campsite, where Mr. and Mrs. Winslow greeted their children by asking them about the songs they sang and the movies.

"We sang songs like 'It's a Small World' and 'Yellow Rose of Texas' and 'You've Got a Friend in Me,'" Erica rambled. "And then they showed us Dumbo. Oh, and Chip honked someone's nose just for fun."

"Yeah Mom, and the sister of the little boy we took with us showed up," Tommy added, pointing to Mysterious Isa. "She watched the movie too, along with her friends."

"Oh, I hope there was no trouble, was there?" Mr. Winslow wondered.

"Oh, no, sir," Latham stated. "We had a good time. Now, if you'll excuse us, me and my friends here gotta go to bed. We've a big day ahead of us tomorrow…well, not for Ty." Ty glared at Latham. The rest bid the Winslow family goodnight and went back to where they put up their tents.

Tomorrow would be the beginning of their new lives in Walt Disney World.

* * *

**If anybody saw me on fictionpress (also called "Kino Lala"), the six protagionists in this story were from another story of mine called "The Silver Spire." This story has nothing to do with said story; this is merely for fun.**


	2. Where Is Everyone?

**Did anyone see the Family Guy episode, "Road to Multiverse"? There was a part where all the characters were drawn Disney-style!**

* * *

A small patch of sunlight found its way into a small gap in the tent, casting itself next to Faith's head.

"Mmm…" She stirred and opened her eyes. Mysterious Isa was softly snoring beside her, the formers back to her. Being careful not to wake her up, Faith sat up in the tent and crawled over to where the girls had placed their suitcases last night, deciding that the events yesterday made them too exhausted to do anything about them. Opening one of the suitcases, Faith carefully rummaged through it until her fingertips felt leather. Smiling to herself, she pulled it out.

It was a journal, black in color with a pen attached to it from a cloudy white string. It'd been purchased at a local bookstore before she and the others left Silver Point for what hopefully would be for good. Well…she wouldn't say purchase, but at least she got something to record her travels in. _"And who knows? Maybe I'll publish it one day and it'll be a bestseller,"_ Faith thought to herself. _"'Disney Chronicles: Life in the Park;' based on a true story."_ She opened up to the first page.

**June 22nd**

**Day 1 at WDW**

**Well, this is it! Our new lives in Walt Disney World, Florida, have just begun. After brainstorming ideas to get money for almost a year (and finding some change on the ground), we were able to buy six tickets and get to the U.S.A. And it wasn't easy; we had to take a plane from Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport to Miami International, get on a bus from there to Orlando, and then we got on a Disney bus from there to the park.**

**When we were getting settled at Disney's Fort Wilderness, two things happened: Ty got poison ivy and Little Jo wandered off and got taken by the Winslow twins, Tommy and Erica, to the Chip n' Dale Campfire, where they got to see "Dumbo" and eat s'mores. Was Mysterious Isa happy? You bet she wasn't! In fact, she had to make me keep an eye on Little Jo from now on, as a "moving buddy."**

**We're going to the Magic Kingdom today. I know Little Jo is excited to go; he was talking about it on the way here yesterday. I don't know if Ty will be all right to come with us due to the poison ivy incident; he'll have to stay at the campgrounds if he cannot. If by himself or someone's going to watch him, I don't know.**

"Mmm…Faith?" Mysterious Isa asked sleepily as she woke up. "What time…is it?"

"I don't know, Isa," Faith apologized in reply. "I don't have a watch on me. But it's morning."

"I know that." Mysterious Isa sat up and smoothed her red hair. "And don't forget about Little Jo." Faith smiled at her and promised she wouldn't forget.

The two girls got dressed and then stepped out of the tent. Faith wore a red sleeveless shirt and blue Capri's; Mysterious Isa wore a knee-length jean skirt with a green T-shirt that had "Princess" written on it in glitter and black leggings.

"Should we wake up the boys now?" Faith inquired.

Mysterious Isa shook her head and smiled. "Let's get breakfast. The boys can wait." Faith emitted a small laugh and the duo walked away.

* * *

Of the four boys in the group, it was Little Jo who woke up first. He heard his sister and Faith talking to each other from outside the tent. But about what?

Cooper was still asleep beside him in the tent. Little Jo put on his red gym shoes, crawled out of the tent, and waited until the girls were out of sight to follow them.

Faith and Mysterious Isa didn't look behind them; they were too busy chatting with one another (perhaps about their future in Disney World?) as Little Jo followed them from a safe distance.

But when he passed the place where the Winslows had their motor home parked, Little Jo smiled when he saw Erica and Tommy, the twins he met the previous night. With them was Mr. Winslow.

"Hey, Erica! Hey, Tommy!" Little Jo called out to them as he ran towards the twins, who smiled back at him.

"Little Jo, hi!" Erica trilled. "It's nice to see you again!"

"Where're your friends?" Tommy buzzed. "They asleep?"

"Some are and some aren't. Faith and my sister walked off and…oh, no!" It dawned upon Little Jo that the two girls were out of sight when he turned towards the direction where he last saw them. "Where did they go?"

"Don't worry, Jo, I'm sure Faith and Isa didn't go _that_ far," Erica assured him. "If we hurry now, we could catch up to them."

"Dad, can we go ahead of you to Pioneer Hall?" Tommy asked his father.

"You don't have to, because I'm already ready," Mr. Winslow chuckled in response. "I'll let your mother know where we are when we get there." Mrs. Winslow was still asleep in their motor home.

"Come along, Tommy, Erica, Josiah." Mr. Winslow led the three children towards the mess hall. Little Jo hoped he would meet up with his sister and Faith soon.

* * *

Faith and Mysterious Isa reached Pioneer Hall, where they passed a child being scolded by his mother for making a scene. A ten-year-old girl (probably related to the child) emerged from the Hall, ketchup staining her shirt. Faith grabbed the door from the girl and she and Isa went inside.

"Howdy! Welcome to the Trail's End Restaurant," a young man greeted them brightly. His hair was a dark shade of brown and he had a clean shave. "Are you going to get anything from the buffet table, or will you order from the menu?"

Faith and Mysterious Isa thought about it for a moment and decided on the buffet table. The man smiled and led them to a nearby table, adding that their waiter would be with them in a moment.

As soon as he'd gone, Faith leaned towards Mysterious Isa and whispered, "Don't we pay for getting stuff from the buffet?"

"Beats me," Mysterious Isa shrugged. Back in the country of French Guinea, Faith, Isa, and the other four boys would either go shoplift from supermarkets, dine and dash at restaurants, or go to homeless shelters if they didn't have enough money on them. Never before had they taken food from a buffet.

Faith was starting to get worried. _"We should've woken up the boys,"_ she thought to herself. _"Maybe Latham would've known what to do."_ She looked towards the entrance to the restaurant. _"Please Latham, please hurry."_

* * *

"Where are those three?" Cooper wondered aloud as he, Ty, and Latham surveyed their campground. The African Guinean had woken up to an empty spot beside him, and when he went to check on the girls, he found their tent open and the two gone.

"I think they went for a swim," Ty suggested.

"Well, I say they headed towards the Magic Kingdom without us," Cooper stated.

"It was for a swim!" Ty snapped at him.

"Kingdom!" Cooper yelled in response.

"Swim!"

"Kingdom!"

"Swim!"

"Kingdom!"

"Knock it off!" Latham hissed at them. "Faith, Mysterious Isa, and Little Jo wouldn't ditch us like that. I'm sure they're still around here...just not that close."

"What makes you say that?" Cooper quizzed.

"We six have to stick together, no matter what," Latham enounced stolidly. "After we get dressed, we'll go look for them. First, we'll check by the pool, and then if they're not there, we'll just head to the Magic Kingdom and hope that they are there. Got it?" Cooper and Ty nodded their heads.

* * *

"Good morning, sir; table for five, please," Mr. Winslow said to the waiter. "We're going with the buffet."

The waiter looked down at the children. "Is anyone else joining you?"

Mr. Winslow nodded. "My wife's coming." He ushered the children to a table next to Mysterious Isa and Faith. The two girls were already up at the buffet table and did not see them coming in.

"Think up anything yet, Faith?" Mysterious Isa whispered to the blond girl as she placed a slice of bacon on her plate.

"I think I did," whispered Faith in reply. "You know how we used to dine and dash back in Silver Point? Well, we will do that here."

"Dine and dash?" Mysterious Isa raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, girl. Security's probably tough here. And I doubt there are _any_ windows in the bathrooms."

Faith shrugged and placed another slice of bacon on her plate. "Couldn't be hard to try."

The two girls added more food to their plates and headed back to their table. As soon as they sat down, Mysterious Isa heard a small voice say, "Hey, madam? Could you please hand me a napkin?" The redhead girl nodded and swiped up a napkin she got. But when she turned towards the voice, she came face-to-face with a familiar boy.

"Little Jo! What're you doing here?" she exclaimed, surprised.

"I followed you guys before coming across the Winslows. They were heading here. We've been here for a few minutes now," Little Jo said with a smile. Tommy and Erica peeked over his shoulder at them, the latter waving.

"Where's the rest of the gang?" Faith inquired.

"I think they're asleep."

"Oh, ya _think_?" Mysterious Isa scowled at him. She turned to Faith and asked her what they should do.

"Well…let's see…" Faith scratched her head. "As soon as we're done eating, we'll go back and see how Latham and those other two are doing. We'll wake them up and go to the Magic Kingdom as a group."

"And if they're _not_ in the tents?" Little Jo pressed.

"Then maybe they went to the Magic Kingdom without us, and we'll just go catch up with them. Fair enough?" The redheaded siblings nodded.

"Wow, you _really_ know how to use your brain, Faith," Erica remarked. "Did you ever do anything like this back home?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Faith rejoined. "Our lives were busy." She took a sip of the orange juice she got from the buffet. Mysterious Isa shoved a morsel of hash browns into her mouth.

* * *

Latham and Cooper waited for Ty as he checked by the swimming pool. "Are they there?" Latham demanded as the Asian boy trotted back to them.

Ty shook his head. "Nothin'. It isn't even opened."

"Looks like you were wrong about them goin' for a swim, Tyler," Cooper teased.

"Shut up, Coop." His dark brown eyes met Latham's blue ones. "Do we go to the Magic Kingdom now?"

Latham sighed. "I guess so. C'mon, you two; let's get walking. I'll bet Isa, Faith, and Jo are waiting for us by the Transportation and Ticket Center already." He sighed again.

Keeping to the edge of the path so that no cars would run them over, the three boys made their way to the entrance, where they would await the bus. At one point, Cooper spoke.

"What if those other three _aren't_ at the Magic Kingdom?" he wondered aloud. "What if they're still here?"

Ty snorted and rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Cooper? Where do you think they are? Imprisoned by the Disney villains?"

"No!" Cooper snapped. "Maybe they could still be in Fort Wilderness…probably at Pioneer Hall or the stables." He turned to Latham. "I propose we go back and continue looking for them."

"Don't listen to him, Lath," Ty said quickly. "He's crazy. I am sure those three are on their way to the park as we speak."

Here, Latham stopped and thought about what the African Guinean boy had said. Was Cooper right? Were Mysterious Isa, Faith, and Little Jo still wandering around here? If they were, where would they be?

"Let's go check by the campsite one last time," Latham finally declared, turning around and jogging back.

"What?" Ty's jaw dropped. "Lath, don't—"

"Come on, Ty!" Cooper ordered. "We're going to look some more." He smiled and followed the blue-eyed boy.

Ty was flabbergasted at what had happened. One minute, they were strolling along merrily to get to the Transportation and Ticket Center, and the next, they were going back! And it was all because of that Cooper.

_"That Cooper may've persuaded Latham, but he won't persuade me!"_ Ty thought to himself bitterly. _"I'll just go to the Magic Kingdom by myself!"_ And with that, he bolted down the road as fast as he could.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Latham and Cooper find Isa, Faith, and Jo...but where did Ty go?**


	3. Let the Search for Ty Begin!

****

Just in case you guys didn't see it, I put up a poll about a new color for the monorails at Disney World. Originally, teal was there, but when I went on the Wikipedia page for the WDW monorails, I saw that a teal monorail was going to be made from the undamaged parts of the pink and purple monorails, which were damaged earlier this summer.

**Oh, BTW, I might do a parody of the animated 101 Dalmatians movie. What do you think? :3**

* * *

The Disney bus rolled up to the Transportation and Ticket Center and opened its door with a hiss, allowing the people riding inside it to hop out. With a smirk on his lips, Ty stepped out of the bus with the other passengers. He wasn't sure about what Latham would do to him for running off like that, but he decided that he was not going to care at all. This was Disney World after all; he could just do whatever he wanted to do.

Ty sauntered past a family of five checking to make sure that they got everything and up the ramp to the monorail. A gold-striped monorail was just pulling out of the station, heading toward Epcot, and the one bound for the Magic Kingdom, this one having a lime green stripe, was still there.

The Asian boy took a deep breath and bolted towards it, hoping that he'd make it before the doors shut. In the process of getting there, he bumped into a teenaged girl that was talking to her friends, a man wearing a Goofy hat, and a hefty boy with a black T-shirt on.

"Hey, you! Get back here!" the hefty boy barked, reaching out for him. Ty was able to get away from him in time and hopped inside the middle car of the monorail.

"Please stand clear of the doors," a voice boomed over the speakers. The command repeated itself in Spanish as the monorail's doors swung close.

The voice continued as the lime monorail sped out of the station. "Welcome to the Walt Disney World Monorail. We are on our way to the Magic Kingdom. For those of you who are standing..." Ty yawned as he took a seat at the far end of the car. He noticed that among the people in here, the same adolescent girl he had bumped into had gotten in at the last minute, as did her friends. When she spotted him there, she gave him a dirty look.

Ty merely brushed off the look and gazed out the window, watching the scenery.

* * *

"Hello, everyone!" Mrs. Winslow chirped as she joined her husband and children. "Did I miss anything?" Her brown eyes were sparkling.

"Nothin', Mom," Erica replied, drinking her chocolate milk. "Except that Josiah and his friends are joining us for breakfast."

"It's Faith who's a friend," Little Jo corrected her. "Isa's my sister." Erica nodded, understanding her mistake.

Faith stared at Mrs. Winslow and asked her, "So, what will you four be doing at the Magic Kingdom today?"

Mr. Winslow gazed back at her. "We're not going to M.K. today, Faith," he stated.

"Then…where will you go?"

"Animal Kingdom, of course. Tommy and I are going to try out Expedition Everest. You know, that new roller coaster ride."

"And Erica and I are going to see the Finding Nemo show," Mrs. Winslow added happily. Erica rolled her eyes and whispered to Mysterious Isa, "Don't see it. My friend Rosie told me it was pretty stupid when she saw it. Cute, but stupid."

Faith finished up her breakfast and declared, "Done!" She stood up and added, "I'm going to the bathroom now. Jo, are you coming?"

Little Jo looked at his food, up at Faith, and then back at his food again. "Uh…not yet, Faith." Faith ignored his reply and took him by the hand, stating, "We'll be back in five minutes, okay?" And the two left.

"Faith, wait! Stop!" Little Jo ordered as the blond continued dragging him along. "What're you doing?" The girl sought out a side door and went towards it, whispering, "Dining and dashing. Since Lath and those other two haven't shown up at all, we're going to have to resort to what we usually do back in Silver Point."

"W-What?" Little Jo was able to remove Faith's grasp on his wrist. "Faith, we can't do that! We might get caught!"

"Then what do you suppose we do? Latham's got all our money with him!" Faith hissed.

"I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Winslow will be glad to pay for our food," Little Jo explained to him. "Come on, Faith; the Winslows are nice. Very nice."

Faith thought about this for a moment. True, they had been friendly to them, especially Tommy and Erica.

"All right, Josiah," Faith finally said. "We'll go back. Besides, we would've forgotten your sister." Little Jo beamed.

The two returned to their table, where the waiter was picking up their plates from the table. He looked at the two and said, "Will there be anything else?"

"No, sir," Faith replied. The waiter nodded and left.

When the waiter was gone, Little Jo turned to face the Winslow parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Winslow, can I ask you a favor?" he inquired them.

"Yes, Josiah," Mrs. Winslow rejoined. "What is it?"

"Ah…well, you see, our parents…they're not early birds like me and Isa, who told me that our parents would join us, but they haven't shown up." He looked at Faith, who urged him to ask them, and then he returned his gaze to the parents. "So, I was just asking, can you pay for our meal for us?"

Mr. Winslow discussed it with his wife for a few minutes before looking at Little Jo again. "Why, of course, Jo," said Mr. Winslow. "We'd be happy to." Little Jo smiled at Faith, as if to say, "See? It worked!"

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Winslow," Mysterious Isa piped up. "We're glad you could do this." She had been conversing with Erica about the rides at Animal Kingdom.

A few minutes later, the waiter for Faith and her friends showed up with their bill, but Mrs. Winslow stopped him by stating, "Hold on a minute, waiter. The breakfast's on us. We know them." She smiled at Faith.

* * *

"Bye, Mr. and Mrs. Winslow! Bye, Tommy and Erica!" Little Jo called over his shoulder as he, Mysterious Isa, and Faith began their trek towards their campsite. "Thanks for paying for us! Have a nice time at Animal Kingdom!"

"Have fun where you're going!" Mrs. Winslow called back to them. "Remember, stay together!"

"And remember what I said about the shows!" Erica added.

Faith, Little Jo, and Mysterious Isa began to jog, swinging their arms as they went. As soon as Pioneer Hall was out of their sight, Little Jo looked at the two older girls and questioned them, "All right, what do we do now?"

"Simple," Faith breathed. "We go back to the campsite and wake up those other three."

"Do you think they ate?"

"No, dummy," Mysterious Isa huffed. "And if they are hungry, then they'll have to wait until we get to the Magic Kingdom. Tommy Winslow told me that there are restaurants on Main Street, U.S.A., that serves breakfast, like this one called Crystal Palace. You can get food from the buffet and meet with Disney characters. And then there's the..." Mysterious Isa prattled on and on about places to eat at in the park.

Just as they came to the fork in the road, someone suddenly collided with Mysterious Isa. Both fell to the ground.

"Hey, watch it, pally!" Mysterious Isa snapped at him.

"How about you watch it next time, lady?" the person japed.

Faith's eyes widened when she heard the person's voice. It was a familiar one. "Cooper!"

Cooper looked up at her. "Faith! Little Jo! Mysterious Isa!" He stood up. "You're safe!"

"Of course we're safe," Mysterious Isa said sarcastically. "No duh." Cooper ignored her and called for Latham, who came running up to them.

"I'm so glad that you three are safe," Latham breathed. He looked over his shoulder and called, "Yo, Ty! Aren't you glad we found the girls and Little Jo?"

There was no response.

"Ty? Are you there?"

Still no answer.

"Oh, great!" Cooper exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "First we lost Faith and Isa and Jo, and now we lose Tyler! Some day this is turning out to be!"

"Calm down, Cooper," said Latham. "My guess is that Ty went ahead of us."

"He's probably at the park by now," Mysterious Isa concurred. She turned to Latham, her teal eyes meeting his blue ones. "What do we do?"

"_Here's_ what we do." Latham ushered the remaining four closer to him and whispered to them his plan. Basically, they would just hop on a monorail bound for the Magic Kingdom. There, they would look for Ty before he caused any trouble and exposed their plan to stay in Walt Disney World permanently.

"Okay, one quick question before we go, Lath," Mysterious Isa piped up when the gang's leader asked for any questions. "Why do you let Ty stay if he's a complete nuisance?"

"Back in Silver Point, he had lots of ideas to scam people out of their money."

"Oh."

* * *

Together, Latham, Cooper, Mysterious Isa, Little Jo, and Faith made their way back to their campsite, where Latham was able to pick up the passes they would need in order to get to the park. The brown-haired boy counted the passes and nodded when he saw that they were one pass short. _"Ty must've snatched it up before we went to look for Faith and Isa and Jo,"_ he thought to himself.

Once they got the passes, the quintet made the trek to the nearest bus stop, where they waited no more than ten minutes before a bus came to take them to the Transportation and Ticket Center. They walked all the way up the ramp that led to the monorail station, where they boarded a blue-striped monorail. Like its gold-striped kin, this monorail was also making its route to the Magic Kingdom, but not before stopping at the Polynesian Resort and the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa (Ty had taken the non-stop monorail route).

"How will we look for Tyler, Latham?" Little Jo asked, looking out the window. They were sitting in the rear car of the monorail.

"Simple, Josiah," Latham replied, pulling a map of the Magic Kingdom out of his pocket. He opened it up and pointed to the Cinderella Castle. "The park's divided into seven sections, known respectively as Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Toontown, Main Street, and Liberty Square. Ty would go where the rides are, so we can drop Main Street, as it has no rides. Faith and Little Jo, you'll go look for Ty in Tomorrowland and Toontown. Cooper, you look in Liberty Square, Adventureland, and Frontierland, while Mysterious Isa and I will look in Fantasyland."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cooper called out. "Not so fast! You expect _me_ to look in three sections of M.K. by _myself_? That sounds racist to me, man."

"…You're right. Okay Coop, you'll look in Fantasyland and Frontierland while me and Isa seek Ty out in Liberty Square and Adventureland. That fair?" Cooper nodded, satisfied at the change. The monorail stopped at the Polynesian Resort and opened its doors. Passengers poured into the other cars, but none dare try to join Faith and her friends. A couple minutes after pulling into the station, the doors of the monorail closed and it pulled out of there.

"Okay, Latham," Mysterious Isa breathed. "We gotta know which places in Liberty Square and Adventureland Ty will be." She pointed at Liberty Square on the map. "Ty's going to be where the best rides are, and the ony ride in L.S. is the Haunted Mansion. Adventureland, on the other hand, has Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise."

"So all you two have to do is look by those three rides?" Little Jo inquired.

"Yes, little brother. We do."

* * *

The five children pushed through the gate and jaunted upon Main Street, U.S.A., taking in all the sights and sounds. Horse-drawn streetcars and omnibuses paraded up and down the street. On the sidewalk, balloons shaped like Mickey Mouse's head as well as ice cream, hats, and various souvenirs were being sold by vendors. In front of the Harmony Barber Shop, park visitors were getting their picture taken with Goofy.

"This is…amazing," Little Jo exulted.

"I know," Faith agreed with him as she took the redhead by the hand. "Now come along; we've gotta get to Tomorrowland."

"Good luck finding Ty, you guys!" Latham yelled over his shoulder as he and Mysterious Isa ran towards Adventureland.

"Whoever finds him should seek us out after!" Mysterious Isa added.

* * *

**Next chapter: Faith, Little Jo, Latham, Cooper, and Mysterious Isa hunt for Ty in the Magic Kingdom. **

**Where could he be? **


	4. Meet Aidan

"Good luck in Fantasyland, Cooper!" Mysterious Isa hollered to the African Guinean boy as he ran towards the Cinderella Castle.

Together, she and Latham made their way to a path on their left. This path would take them to Liberty Square, where they would first look for Ty at the Haunted Mansion.

Back in Silver Point, the gang had gone to the library prior to leaving so they could get as much information about their new home. Mysterious Isa and Latham's job was to research as much as they could about the Magic Kingdom, while Ty got EPCOT, Faith got Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM), and Little Jo looked up Animal Kingdom. While researching Magic Kingdom, the two were able to get knowledge about the Haunted Mansion: it was a seven-minute ride, where passengers would get into vehicles called "Doom Buggies" and ride around, looking at all the creepy rooms in the house, from the séance room to the eerie graveyard.

They reached Liberty Square, where the Liberty Belle Riverboat's whistle blared into the morning air. A young woman in a yellow Colonial dress stood outside the Columbia Harbor House. A family of four was peeking into the window of the Heritage House. Then, the father and one of the two sons walked away, heading towards the Haunted Mansion.

Latham and Mysterious Isa eagerly followed the two towards Magic Kingdom's scariest attraction.

* * *

Cooper strolled past the carousel and stopped in front of Mickey's PhilharMagic, debating about whether to go in.

"Ty could be in here," Cooper wondered, keeping quiet. "It's funny and entertaining, but on the other hand, Ty wants to go on the rides."

Cooper took a glance over his shoulder to see some of the rides. There was the Dumbo ride, It's a Small World, the Winnie the Pooh ride…

Cooper couldn't help but smile. "Ty wouldn't ride those rides; he'll think they're for little kids." He looked back up at Mickey's PhilharMagic. "It wouldn't hurt to check in here. After all, he could be waiting to get a seat in there." He ran inside.

* * *

"This way, Little Jo," Faith called out to the redheaded boy when he was done tying his shoes. "We're going on the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin to see if we can find Ty there." Originally, Faith had intended on going to Space Mountain, that is, until a passerby she had asked told her that the said-ride was closed for renovation, as was the Tommorowland Transit Authority, a ride that cut its way through Florida's oldest working ride.

Huge bummer.

Little Jo was able to finish up tying his shoes and trotted up alongside Faith, asking, "Aren't we going to check out ToonTown?"

"Later." Faith took Josiah's hand. "There could be a huge possibility that Ty is sneaking around here."

The two children made their way to the Buzz Lightyear ride, keeping their eyes open for any signs of the Asian boy they knew and loved. A myriad of people were patiently waiting outside the Carousel of Progress, a twenty minute show. No, Ty would never dream of going on something as boring as _that_.

"Faith, look!" Little Jo cried, tugging on her shirt.

"What's wrong, Jo?" Faith asked him.

"Look!" He pointed to a black-haired boy wearing a baseball cap and a pair of beige jeans. The boy had just exited off of the Astro Orbiter, looked around, and walked away from them.

"Maybe it's Tyler," Faith whispered. "Come along, Little Jo." She and the brown-eyed boy followed the boy as he made his way towards Space Mountain.

_"That's odd,"_ Faith thought to herself. _"Doesn't he know that ride is under construction?"_

"Ty! Tyler!" Little Jo shouted to him. The boy ignored him. He walked up to Space Mountain's entrance, looked both ways, and then went inside.

"He's gonna get in trouble!" whispered Little Jo excitedly.

"But we can't go in after him," Faith pointed out. "We'll get thrown out."

"C'mon, Fay," Little Jo assured her. "Ty's part of the gang, we _have_ to stick together." Before she could call to him, Little Jo raced inside. Not knowing what else to do, Faith followed the boy.

"Ty! Tyler! Are you in here?" Little Jo whispered, his brown eyes darting around.

"Psst! Tyler!" Faith called out softly. She was just two feet behind Mysterious Isa's brother. "Come on, Ty; we can't be in here! We'll get thrown out of the park!"

All around them came the sounds of construction. The clanging of hammers, the whirr of the drills, and crew members chatting with one another as they worked.

"Hey, my wife's going out tonight with her friends, so maybe we could watch the baseball game on ESPN."

"Can't; my daughter's having her play at seven. They're doing Cinderella, and Mary's playing one of the stepsisters."

Faith spotted the black-haired boy stepping onto the loading platform for the ride. She whispered to Little Jo to stay by the handrail and let her know if anyone was coming.

Getting on her hands and knees, Faith crawled towards the boy and whispered loudly to him, "Wait a minute."

The boy, who was about to step onto the tracks, finally heard her. He turned around and looked down at her. Faith's eyes widened when she saw that this boy was definitely not Ty. While Ty was of Asian descent, this boy was Caucasian, with eyes the brightest shade of green.

"What the…who are you?" Faith asked him as she got up. "You're not Tyler. Where is he?"

The boy said nothing. His bright green eyes were focused right on her.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer me?" Faith was starting to get annoyed. "Who are—"

"Aidan; your friend is fine," the boy said quickly. "You shouldn't be here."

"And neither should _you_. What are you doing in here, anyway?"

"None of your beeswax, kid."

"Uh, guys?" It was Little Jo who piped up. "I think we should—"

"Don't you _dare_ call me a kid, Mr. Aidan!" Faith scolded him. "I have a name."

"Oh, then what is it, _kid_?" Aidan asked, flaring his nostrils.

"Guys!" Little Jo hissed to them, ending their conversation. "We've gotta get outta here! I think I hear security!"

Aidan and Faith gathered by Little Jo and heard the sounds of footsteps and someone shouted, "They ran in here!"

"Oh, great," Aidan groaned. "Just what I needed." He grabbed Faith and Little Jo by the arm and dragged them away from the loading platform and towards the exit.

"There they are! I see them!" a guard yelled, pointing.

"Stop them!" another one added.

"C'mon, keep up!" Aidan hissed to the two. "We've gotta get away from them."

"We're _trying_, you dork," Faith retorted.

The trio raced onto the speedramp, which was turned off. They passed the octagon rooms, increased their pace when the speedramp dipped down, and literally heaved themselves towards the exit when the ramp rose up. They passed through the doorway and found themselves in the conjoining arcade room.

Thinking fast, Aidan pushed Faith and Little Jo behind an arcade game, just in time for the guards to come in. "You!" one of them bellowed, pointing at Aidan.

"Catch me if you can, jerk bags!" the boy howled before running out of the arcade, the myriad of security guards on his tail.

Faith and Little Jo looked on as Aidan fled.

"He got us out of trouble, Faith," Little Jo whispered to her.

Faith didn't say anything. She got up, took her friend by the hand, and they exited the arcade room, heading in the direction of ToonTown. Ty still needed to be found.

* * *

"Come back here, you little brat!" the guards hollered. Aidan had led them out of Tomorrowland and towards the Cinderella Castle. He knew that he had to get rid of the guards and fast.

But how?

Aidan began to think of different options. One: lure the guards into the moat. No; they would arrest him; the moat was strictly off-limits.

Two: lead them on a chase throughout all section of the Magic Kingdom in an effort to tire them out and leave them in the dust. Impossible; he'd get tired before he got into Liberty Square.

Three: get out of the Magic Kingdom, trick the guards into thinking he was getting onto a monorail, and when they were on, he'd hop off before the doors closed. He smirked; perfect.

Aidan checked over his shoulder. There appeared to be about a dozen security guards on his tail, probably more. He had to get his plan into action before he got captured.

"Come on, I know you can keep up!" Aidan hollered. He increased his speed, swerving around the passerby, wondering if they could be a distraction to the men.

Aidan darted out of the way of the oncoming horse-drawn trolley. A few of the guards behind him jumped out of the way for the moment, but the rest followed the way the green-eyed boy took. A plump guard stopped to catch his breath.

At last, Aidan exited the Magic Kingdom and ran up to the nearby monorail station, where he saw the coral-striped monorail pulling in. He grinned from ear to ear. This plan was going to work!

"Look, there he is!" Aidan looked over his shoulder again and stopped. The guards ran up the ramp after him, but there weren't as much as there had been initially; probably six or seven. "Perhaps the rest gave up," the boy thought to himself.

"Yeah, guards; come up here!" he taunted, almost out of breath. "I'm open!" He waited until the men were a few steps behind him before taking off again, getting onto the second car of the coral monorail.

Ducking below the window, Aidan smirked as he heard footsteps, and then the guards climbed into the car. As of now, there were almost thirty people inside, most of them mothers with their young, whiny children. The guards began to ask the women if they have seen a black-haired boy causing mischief.

After almost a minute in the car, the teen was able to sneak out unseen. Seconds later, the doors swung close, and a guard spotted Aidan outside, unscathed. The man proceeded to curse angrily at him as the monorail pulled away.

"Kid, could you please come over behind the gate?" the man behind him asked in a polite voice. "I do not want you getting hurt."

"Why yes, sir," Aidan chirped, obeying him. The man shut the gate close and ordered the people to keep a good distance away from it until the next monorail arrived. Aidan didn't stick around; he went over onto a bench, plopped himself on it, and stayed there to catch his breath. He hoped that annoying girl and her friend were not caught.

* * *

**Phew, another chapter done!**


	5. Reunited and It's About to Get Crazy

****

Wow, it's been since December since I last updated this.

**Man, am I slooooow...**

**Plus another thing: while looking up WDW on Wikipedia, I found out that Toontown was going to be BULLDOZED TO THE GROUND just to expand Fantasyland! They shouldn't tear it down; all those lovable toons live there! **

* * *

Faith and Little Jo skidded to a stop in front of Minnie Mouse's house, located in ToonTown.

"Faith, do you think that Aidan kid got away?" Little Jo panted.

"I do not care about him," Faith retorted. "All I care about is finding Ty. For all we know, he might be a relative of a park guest or something, I don't know."

"Security chased him, Fay," Little Jo pointed out. "What if he—"

"Let's get going," Faith interrupted him. "We've gotta find Ty."

* * *

"Hello, welcome to the Jungle Cruise, everyone!" said the tour guide. "My name is Jed, and I'll be with you for this _exciting_ adventure. Step inside, don't be shy."

Latham and Mysterious Isa joined about sixteen or so park guests as they boarded the _Volta Val_ boat. Minutes ago, they'd exited the Haunted Mansion, unsuccessful at looking for Ty. Mysterious Isa insisted that they look for the boy on this ride.

The two children sat down in the back room, just in front of a family with three children. Their ages ranged from seven to four and they were whining.

"Mommy, I don't wanna go on this ride!"

"Where's my juice box?"

"No cruise, no cruise!"

"Daddy, where's my juice box?"

"I'm hungry!"

"I have to go potty!"

"I want my juice box!"

"Man, what a circus," Mysterious Isa whispered to Latham, who nodded in agreement.

Once the last person found a seat in the front row, Jed smiled delightfully at his passengers.

"Well, well, this is a nice crowd, huh?" he mused aloud. "Well, before we go off, we're going to go over the rules: no smoking, keep small children near you at all times…"

"Mommy, he's talking about us!" one of the children in front of Latham and Isa squeaked. She was the oldest, at age seven.

"…or one of the animals we come across will snatch them away and have them for lunch."

The same child whimpered in fear. So did her siblings.

"Also, I'd advise that you keep your arms and legs inside the boat at _all times_," Jed finished.

The _Volta Val_pulled away from the dock and began its trek down the water. Jed began talking about a guy named Albert Awol and how he received a broadcast from him. Latham scanned each of the passengers on board, seeing if any one of them was Ty.

"Look over there!" Jed called out with fake enthusiasm. "Look at those giant butterflies!" Everyone on the boat (save for Mysterious Isa and Latham) peered out to where the butterflies Jed mentioned were flittering about.

"They're fake," Latham whispered to his friend.

"Would've been more interesting if they'd been real," Mysterious Isa pointed out.

"Yeah," Latham agreed. "If they were real, then they would probably attack everyone."

Mysterious Isa snickered and mockingly squeaked, "Oh my God, these butterflies are man-eaters! Run away! Oh my God!"

Latham joined in. "Noooooo! Run away!" The two kids chuckled at their joke.

* * *

Now, let us see how things are right now: Latham and Mysterious Isa were currently in Adventureland, Little Jo and Faith were in ToonTown, searching through the country house of Minnie Mouse (and trying not to get in trouble), and Cooper was waiting in line for the Snow White ride after he failed to find Ty in the PhilharMagic show.

So…where _was_ Ty?

The Asian boy was inside the Cinderella Castle, of course. After disembarking off of the monorail, he spent the time before the park opened wandering about Main Street. During that time, he was able to find seven cents on the ground and sneak a box of popcorn from a cart when the vender wasn't looking.

As soon as people were allowed to go through the archway under the Cinderella Castle, Ty joined the group, but as he walked along, viewing the mosaics, he caught sight of some people going into a hallway. He joined them.

"Psst, hey kid," Ty whispered to a girl his age. "Where are these people goin'?"

"To Cinderella's Royal Table," the girl replied. Her short strawberry blond hair was hidden underneath a pink baseball cap.

"What's that?" Ty inquired.

"It's a restaurant, silly. We're going here because my little sister wants to meet Cinderella."

"How are you going to get up there?"

"An elevator."

"…I knew that."

Ty followed the girl, her family, and the rest of the group to the elevator. Patiently, Ty and the others waited for a couple of minutes before the elevator arrived. They got in and rode it to the second floor, where the Royal Table was located. Another larger group was already stationed outside of the restaurant.

"It's not opened yet," one of the people stated. "Just about fifteen more minutes."

"Oh, come _on_!" Ty exclaimed. Some people glared at him, including the girl he talked to.

Ty tapped his foot impatiently. "This stinks," he muttered. "I am not going to stick around here. I'm out." He made his way to the elevator.

But when he was halfway there, he came across a plain wooden door that had the words "Staff Only" painted on it in red. Ty's dark brown eyes darted from left to right, checking to make sure that no one was looking towards him. Then, he slipped through the door.

Ty came face to face with a flight of stone steps, lit by a failing light bulb. The Asian boy bent down and touched the first step, his fingers brushing against it lightly. _"Where does this go?" _he thought to himself, his eyes following the steps.

Ty placed one foot on the first step. When nothing happened, he placed his other foot on the step. To make sure the step would stay firm, he jumped up and down on it. Nodding in satisfaction, Ty began to make his way up the staircase. He was nearly halfway up when he heard footsteps behind him. He panicked and whirled around to face his opponent, only to discover it was a boy who appeared to be around Faith's age, with black hair and bright green eyes.

"What in the…who the heck are you?" Ty demanded.

"What are you doing up here?" the boy snapped at him.

Ty scowled. "I asked you a question first! Who the heck are you?"

The boy folded his arms. "No time to say; you are not allowed here."

Ty scoffed. "Ooh, I'm _so_ scared!" he quipped sarcastically. "Who are you, part of security?"

"I am Aidan," the boy answered. "You must leave this place. Now."

"Finally, I get my answer. And no, I won't listen to you." Ty turned his back on Aidan and continued his ascent up the staircase.

"Come back! You're making a mistake!" Aidan called after him. Ty ignored him.

A few minutes later, Ty came to the top of the stairs, finding himself in a small, hexagonal room with one window. The walls were painted a dark shade of red, and just across from Ty was another door, this one having a brass lock on it. To the left of the door was a picture of Spaceship Earth at twilight.

"I wonder how high up I am," Ty said aloud, turning his head to the window. He walked over to it and poked his head out. He was surprised to see that, from where he was standing, he had a perfect view of Main Street, with the monorail track and the lagoon beyond it.

"This…is incredible!" Ty exclaimed. "The others have _got_ to see this! Well, maybe not Cooper, but the others! Man, what a view!"

"I hope you've done enough exploring, kid." Ty looked over his shoulder to see Aidan. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Oh no, not _you_."

"I'm serious," Aidan stated firmly. "Get out."

"Wow, I am _really_ scared right now," Ty sarcastically mumbled. "What's gonna happen? Are pirates going to come out and attack us?"

As if on cue, a banging sound came at the door, followed by a choir of yells. Aidan declared, "You think they put that lock there for no reason?" Before Ty could answer, Aidan grabbed his hand and yelled, "Run! The door will break!"

He was right, of course. As the mysterious boy dragged Ty out of the room, the latter could hear a loud creaking sound, followed by more yelling.

"Faster, kid!" Aidan ordered. "We've gotta go!" The two boys ran down the stairs, but instead of going through the same door Ty entered through earlier, Aidan pulled him up alongside the wall to their right. He slapped it twice and it rolled away to reveal another staircase, this one being spiral and going downwards. Nodding in satisfaction, Aidan pulled Ty in as the wall rolled shut.

"Hey, what—" Ty began, but Aidan clapped his hand over the former's mouth, just as the pirates made it down the other staircase.

"Arrgh! Where'd they go?" one demanded.

"I dunno!" another one answered. "But we can't go out there! There are people around!"

"Drat! We'll have to wait 'til dark!" the first one growled. The pirates groaned and marched back up the stairs.

Aidan smiled. "Good, they're gone," he whispered. He looked at Ty, green eyes meeting dark brown. After a moment of silence between the two, he talked.

"Listen carefully, kid," he told him. "These stairs will lead you into Fantasyland. Take them down; don't tell anyone about what you saw here or about how you managed to get within the castle. Got it?" Ty could only nod.

Aidan nudged him down the staircase. Ty walked down them, puzzled by the boy known as Aidan. Did he live in the park? Did the pirates have anything to do with him?

Reaching the bottom, Ty came face-to-face with a steel door. He opened it and found himself in Fantasyland. Only a few people caught him coming out of the castle and were staring at him, curious.

"I…uh…I was…leaving the bathroom," Ty fibbed as he shut the door and stepped away from it.

Aidan looked on from his place on the stairs. He was relieved to see that the boy didn't tell anyone of the brief incident. As soon as Ty was off, he crept down the stairs, slipped through the steel door, and ran towards Tomorrowland, not having the slightest idea that he would meet up with a certain blond girl.

* * *

Mysterious Isa and Latham left Jungle Cruise and were sitting on a bench nearby. Their experience on the ride had proven fruitless with finding Ty as well as extremely boring. Jed's jokes were corny, and every moment he acted surprised, it felt as though it were acted out so many times it didn't seem to be real anymore. _Or_ funny.

"At this rate, we'll never find him," Mysterious Isa groaned, her chin propped up on her fists.

"Ty sure has us fooled," Latham groaned.

"I know," Mysterious Isa agreed. "Plus, I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry too! And you ate back at the campsite!"

"That was _hours_ ago, Lath! This is _now_."

Latham slapped his face. "Sheesh, you're a pain." He stood up. "All right, we'll find something. I have money."

He and Mysterious Isa left Adventureland and returned to Main Street. The parade was not due to happen in another hour and fifteen minutes. They came across the same popcorn stand Ty stole from. Each bought a box for themselves and sat on another bench, enjoying their treat and thinking about Ty.

"What if he didn't come here?" Mysterious Isa wondered. "What if he took off to one of the other parks?"

"Impossible," Latham said. "Ty wouldn't do that."

"Do what?" a voice behind them asked.

"Flee to another park," Latham stated, not looking behind him.

"You're right; your friend wouldn't do that."

Mysterious Isa became uneasy. She turned around to see a boy with black hair. "T-T-Ty?" she stuttered. "Is that you?"

"No, not even close," the boy said curtly. "My name is Aidan, and I happened to come across this Ty you speak of."

Latham jumped to his feet. "Really? Where?"

"Last time I checked, he was lingering around Fantasyland, and I—"

"Fantasyland?" Mysterious Isa gasped. "Lath, Cooper could be there right now!"

"But he might've gone into Frontierland," Latham reminded her. "He could've missed Ty."

"So we…"

"Have to get to Fantasyland before Ty decides to venture out of there!" Latham exclaimed, finishing Mysterious Isa's sentence. He turned to face Aidan so he could properly thank him, only to find that he was gone.

"What the heck? Where'd he go?" Latham wondered.

"Who cares?" Mysterious Isa retorted. "We've gotta get to Ty!"

* * *

Latham finally spotted Ty in line for the It's a Small World ride.

"Isa, look!" Latham said, pointing. "There he is! We found him!"

Mysterious Isa squinted at where her friend was pointing. "But look how far up he is!" she whispered. "We won't be able to get to him in time!" The line for the aforementioned ride was extremely long, and there were about fiftysomething people separating Ty from the boats.

"Ty! Tyler!" Latham shouted. "Over here!"

"Look this way, doofus!" Mysterious Isa hollered. "It's us!" Their calls were swallowed up by the clamor of the crowd as they waited.

Latham muttered a swear word under his breath. "He can't hear us," he said.

"We're going to have to cut some people in order to get closer to him," Mysterious Isa stated. "We may not get next to him by the time he gets on a boat, but it's worth the try."

"You ready, Isa?" Latham asked her. She nodded.

The two took a deep breath and proceeded to push their way through the crowd, uttering excuses such as, "I got separated from my folks," or "I was looking for something I dropped."

At one point, Mysterious Isa seized the opportunity to stand up on her tiptoes and see where Ty was. She gasped; she was almost behind him!

"Lath, I'm near him!" the redheaded girl shouted. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" Mysterious Isa saw his hand sticking out behind a family of six. "I may have to get on another boat though."

"That's okay; I'll climb on with him at the same time." Mysterious Isa turned her back to Latham as she, Ty, and eighteen people were ushered onto a yellow boat. Mysterious Isa found herself in the middle of the third row, squashed between a middle-aged woman and a man in a Tommy Bahama shirt. Ty, on the other hand, was sitting on the far left in the second row, with a blond-haired woman seated next to him.

Just before the final row was filled, Mysterious Isa took a glance behind her and saw that a blue boat was about to arrive. She then looked towards Latham and waved to him. He waved back.

The boat rumbled down the underwater track, heading towards the first room. The song began to play.

**_It's a world of laughter; a world of tears. _**

**_It's a world of hopes, and a world of fears. _**

**_There's so much that we share, _**

**_T_****_hat it's time we're aware, _**

**_It's a small world after all._**

Mysterious Isa clapped her hands over her ears. _"Whoever made up this song should've been shot to death,"_ she thought to herself. She looked at Ty, who was sitting still.

"Ty, Ty!" Mysterious Isa whispered to him. "Ty, it's me!"

"Shh!" the middle-aged woman hissed at her, her index finger by her chapped lips.

"Shh, yourself," Mysterious Isa retorted, glaring at the woman. "I'm trying to talk to a friend." She leaned forward and reached out with her hand to tap Ty on the shoulder. "Ty, it's me."

The Asian boy finally turned around. He was surprised to see the redheaded girl. "What the...Isa?"

"Yeah, it's me!"

"What're you doing on this ride?"

"I should be asking you that, stupid! Me and the others were looking all over the place for you!"

"Shh!" the woman hissed again.

Mysterious Isa ignored her. "As soon as this ride's over, you and I are getting off and waiting for Latham. Then we're gonna find the others and decide what to do next."

* * *

Within an hour, Latham, Mysterious Isa, Ty, Cooper, Little Jo, and Faith were back together again. They had gathered outside of the Big Thunder Mountain ride.

"Didn't anyone see that Aidan kid?" Ty inquired.

"Yeah, me and Little Jo did, inside Space Mountain," Faith answered. "Jo and I thought he was you."

"Isa and I saw that Aidan kid as well," Latham commented.

"I didn't," Cooper blurted out. "Who is he?"

"I dunno," Little Jo replied. "When Faith and I saw him, he led us out of Space Mountain, and then he got chased by security. Maybe he's like us. Maybe he wants to live in Disney World like we do."

Faith threw her arms up in the air and stated, "Why should we care about that Aidan kid? He's not part of our group. I'm pretty sure that Aidan was one of those people who got their park passes pulled, but he snuck in. That's why security chased him around." She turned to Latham and added, "Let's just forget about this Aidan boy and do something."

"Yeah, Lath," Ty agreed. "Let's do something else, like ride the rides." This was one of those few times he ever agreed with Faith.

Latham glared at Ty. "You went AWOL on us for about three hours and all you can say is that you want to go on the rides?"

Ty nodded.

The blue-eyed boy sighed. "Fine," he said. "But this time, we're going to stick together as a group, just as we did back in Silver Point. We go on a certain ride together, we take bathroom breaks together, and we _eat_ together. If I see anyone wander off to do their own thing, then that's it. We go back to our tent and we stay there for the rest of the day. Everyone got that?" The children nodded. "Good. Now, let's go!"

* * *

The rest of the day was spent having fun. Together, Little Jo, Faith, Ty, Latham, Mysterious Isa, and Cooper ran around and had as much fun as they could in the Magic Kingdom. They rode Big Thunder Mountain three times, then Haunted Mansion twice, Peter Pan's Flight twice, Splash Mountain once (Ty and Little Jo hated the drop), went on the Motor Speedway at least twice (at different times of the day), and finally, there was Pirates of the Caribbean, which was only ridden twice. Everyone decided that the Barnstormer ride in the ToonTown section was for the little kids, and therefore was not ridden.

During the kids' second time of riding Pirates of the Caribbean, Ty payed close attention to the Audio-Animatronics on the ride. Faith, who was sitting next to him, looked at him oddly.

"Something wrong, Ty?" she asked him.

"Do you suppose that some of these guys are real?" Ty whispered to her.

"They're supposed to look real. They're Audio-Animatronics."

"No, I mean like...real-real."

"Real-real?" Faith was confused. "Ty, Audio-Animatronics are made by the Imagineers that work here. There is no way they could be real-real. I mean, they break down like rides and get fixed."

* * *

**_Somewhere in an undisclosed location in Disney World_**

"Okay, I think this bird's ready to sing, guys," Harold Walsh said proudly, stepping back from the toucan that stood on the table before him and four other fellow Imagineers.

"Are you sure this time, Harry?" Imagineer Darlene Jefferson questioned, frowning at him. "Because the last time you thought the bird was—"

"Hey, no one saw that coming, Darlene!" Walsh snapped at her. "I mean, who would've guessed that this bird would shoot lasers at us?"

"It was kinda unpredicted," another Imagineer, Charlie Penn, commented.

"Yeah, and isn't the Tiki Room attraction, like, over thirty-years-old?" Freddy Scheinburg wondered aloud. "I don't think lasers were around at the time it was first built."

"This time, it is _sure_ to work," Walsh declared. "Everyone stand back." Jefferson, Penn, and Scheinburg took a few steps back from the table as Walsh picked up a remote with a blue button at the top.

"Okay, little birdie," Walsh whispered, his finger tapping the button. "You can do it...all the birds sing words and the flowers grew..." He pressed the button.

The toucan let out a ear-piercing shriek that echoed through the room. Jefferson clapped her hands over her ears and screamed, "Turn it off, Harry! Turn it _off_!"

"Okay, okay!" Walsh hollered over the shriek. He hit the button again and the toucan went silent. Penn, Scheinburg, and Jefferson glared daggers at Harold Walsh.

Walsh swallowed. "Okay, folks; back to the drawing board."

* * *

_**Back on the POTC ride**_

"Maybe not all of them are A.A.s, Fay," Ty stated matter-of-factly. "Maybe they are real people." He leaned closer to her and confided with her, "What if we were to 'accidentally' get locked inside the Magic Kingdom after the firework show? What if we were to 'accidentally' stumble across what we thought were A.A.s? Think about it."

Faith sighed. _"Tonight's going to be a long one,"_ she thought to herself.

* * *

**I may not start working on the next chapter until I'm back in school. I apologize, but this one took a little longer than expected.**

**Have a nice day. **


End file.
